The Michigan State Appraisals. (continued 2)

In short, the roads are paying to the State of Michigan an average of $1,595,826.05 more per year than they paid under the old law, and to date the State has received about $10,750,000 more from taxes than it would have received under the old specific tax law.

Railroad development in Michigan has received no appreciable check, and notwithstanding a 2-cent fare and the bearing of an equal burden of taxation, the properties are maintained, and improvements, double-tracking and betterment of general standards fully keep pace with similar work in other States.

Of course, it must be recognized that other forces besides the appraisal helped to bring this about. The appraisal of 1900 furnished the information. Public opinion compelled the passage of the needed laws, and the magnificent legal work of Attorneys-General Blair and Bird, Congressman Townsend, and Judge Knappen, and their associates, loyally supported by Professors Cooley and Adams and the appraisal staff, were all factors in securing the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States.